Campus News

Opioid epidemic is topic of UB Mini Med School series

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM

“Since the mission of UB’s Mini Med School is to educate the public, this vital health issue is a natural fit.”

Roseanne Berger, director

Mini Med School

The UB Mini Med School, a public service, community education
program of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences,
will present a three-part series on “Confronting the Opioid
Epidemic."

Presentations will be held from 6–8 p.m. March 15, 22 and
29 in Butler Auditorium in Farber Hall, South Campus. Open to the
public, tickets are $5 for each night with free admission for high
school, college and medical students with valid ID. More
information and registration is available on the Mini Med
School’s Web page. Net proceeds will be donated to
“Kids Escaping Drugs.”

“The opioid epidemic is affecting our entire
community,” says Roseanne Berger, director of the Mini
Medical School and senior associate dean for graduate medical
education. “Mobilizing an effective response requires a
full-court press. Since the mission of UB’s Mini Med School
is to educate the public, this vital health issue is a natural
fit.

“Whether people have friends or family members whose lives
have been disrupted by concern for a loved one, or whether people
want to better understand a major problem affecting our community,
this program is right for you,” she says.

Topics and speakers are:

March 15: “The History and Science of Opioid
Addiction.” David Herzberg, UB associate professor of
history and author of “Happy Pills in America: From Miltown
to Prozac;” Ken Leonard, director of UB’s Research
Institute on Addictions; and Peter Thanos, RIA senior research
scientist.

March 22: “Prevention and Treatment.” Michelle
Rainka, clinical pharmacist in the Division of Neuropharmacology of
DENT Institute of Neurology; Torin Finver, clinical instructor with
the Department of Family Medicine, a physician with UBMD Family
Medicine and director of UB’s fellowship in addictions
medicine; Joseph Bart, a faculty member in the Department of
Emergency Medicine and operations medical director for emergency
medical services at UBMD Emergency Medicine; and Jared Masci,
medical director of addiction services, Lakeshore Behavioral
Health. Finver and Bart are faculty members in the UB medical
school.

March 29: “Law Enforcement and Public Health
Strategies.” Gale Burstein, Erie County health commissioner;
Erie County District Attorney Michael Flaherty; John P. Flickinger,
group supervisor, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; Dan
Rinaldo, drug intelligence officer, NYNJ High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Areas; and Cheryl Moore, Erie County Department of
Health, who will demonstrate how to administer naloxone
(Narcan).

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